Fateful Triangle

Aftermath719reason to expect that Israel will ensure that the “application” conformsto the intent outlined by the sources cited, which would effectively placethe region under Israeli control. Furthermore, Israel is permitted toconduct joint patrols with the Lebanese army beyond this region, to theAwali river north of Sidon. The Israeli interpretation of the accordscorresponds rather closely to their demands on Lebanon in September1982; see section 3.3. It is also consistent with the publishedsegments. Shipler adds that the “high-sounding pledges in theaccord…appear to constitute a quasi-legal arrangement under whichIsrael could intervene again in Lebanon if the agreement’s terms werebroken… Israel could interpret a subsequent violation [or from anotherpoint of view, subsequent resistance to its interpretation of the terms ofthe imposed agreement or to the integration of the occupied territories]as clearing the way for renewed Israeli military action in Lebanon.”United Nations troops are restricted to the right to “surveil and observe”the Palestinian camps; 195 they cannot patrol these areas, which meansthat they cannot provide a barrier to further killings in the camps. Thispossible consequence is not noted in the Times news reports, whichkeep to the official Israeli line: that the UN had been unable to prevent“a PLO buildup,” which means, under recent and current conditions, areconstruction of political, social and economic life under theorganization that the Palestinians regard as their representative. Twodesignated entry points are established for Israeli goods, andnegotiations on future mutual relations are to start six months after anactual withdrawal of Israeli forces begins.The Times commented editorially that the result “would come closeto ending in a Greater Israel. A pro-American coalition of Egypt, SaudiArabia, Jordan and Lebanon would then acquiesce in the destruction ofthe P.L.O. and Israel’s absorption of the West Bank and Golan Heights[and, we may add, the Gaza Strip]. And the coalition would use itsClassics in Politics: The Fateful TriangleNoam Chomsky